Why are folded membranes advantageous to a cell?

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Folded membranes improve the efficiency of a variety of processes that occur across a cell's membrane by increasing the surface area available for the proteins that manage those processes. Proteins facilitate respiration, the exchange of nutrients and waste. They also block harmful molecules from entering the cell.

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Cell membranes are selectively permeable, only allowing free passage of particular useful molecules such as water. Diffusion, the movement of molecules through a barrier, occurs because of the tendency towards equalizing the environment on both sides of an obstacle. The rate of diffusion is the speed at which a substance can pass through a membrane.

Proteins can transport molecules that do not naturally diffuse across the membrane. Ion channel proteins embedded in the membrane allow specific substances to pass through a protein channel when they are opened by the cell. Transfer proteins bind to the blocked molecules and change shape to carry the molecules across the membrane. They then release the molecules and return to their original location on the outside of the membrane. This process of facilitated diffusion is used to transport glucose, sodium ions and chloride ions into the cell for use in metabolism.

In more advanced cells, the folded membrane can pinch off to create sacs called vacuoles through which larger particles can transfer in and out of the cell. Some vacuoles have evolved to create holding areas for harmful substances such as digestive acids.

Related Questions

A cell membrane is a thin layer that acts as a barrier that separates an individual cell or a cellular compartment from other surrounding structures. This dynamic layer plays an essential part in the transport of ions and nutrients.

Cell membranes contain and protect the contents of the cell. They are active in signaling other cells, and proteins embedded in their matrix regulate the cell's chemistry by selectively absorbing and secreting chemicals. Many single-celled organisms, such as amoebae, use their flexible membranes for locomotion and food gathering.

The size of a cell is limited by its surface area to volume ratio. As cells grow larger in volume, their surface area decreases and their ability to diffuse compounds in and out of the cell decreases as well.

As cells get larger, volume increases more rapidly than surface area. Since cells exchange materials and molecules across their membranes, a large cell has more difficulty transporting enough materials.